Canada, of course, in a money grub move have new sweaters for this IIHF 100th anniversary tournament they're hosting at home. Other teams all have the same Nike template uniforms, which are all boring except for a couple of them. Luckily, all teams wore throwback jerseys from various eras, and they were mostly good.

Some retro sweaters were so good that they need to be immediately adopted as regular jerseys.

Switzerland

Germany

Italy

Slovakia

While others would be nice to bring it out occasionally for a change.

Czech Rep.

Russia (with the controversial CCCP)

Latvia

France

Denmark

And USA and Norway went with the Rangers look from the 60's.

Finland's nothing to write home about, probably just not a very pleasing colour combination.

And Slovenia went way too retro and looks like a plain practice jersey.

(Nice brown equipment, btw. Now that's old school.)

And of course the Tre Kronor is timeless, the only way to tell apart the throwback from present day is the vertical striping on the side.

Some of the Nike Swifts are nice, but they'd be even better without the vertical stripes, especially on the socks.

Russia and Czech Rep.

Finland

Latvia

Since this is the most number of pictures evahr in a post, I'll spare you from the other Nike Swifts which range from uninspiring to ugly, and mostly boring because they use the same template.

Good thing the throwbacks looked much better on the players than on paper.

OK, back to regularly scheduled hockey programming, the IHWC is in the Qualifying and Relegation rounds, and the Stanley Cup playoffs are in the Conference Finals.

A pioneer and thought leader in the mobile communications arena, Sir Julian was one of the founding members of Vodafone Group Plc and played a leading role in building Vodafone into a successful international brand and business. He retired from the Vodafone board in July 2006 when he held the title Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

Welcoming Sir Julian to the board, the Chairman, Martin Dawes, said: "Sir Julian and I have worked closely together on many occasions since the launch of Vodafone's UK network in 1985, when he appointed Martin Dawes Communications to be one of the first, and most successful, service providers to the new mobile network. He has unrivalled knowledge and experience of the global telecommunications industry and I am delighted that he has accepted the challenge of working with us as we continue to grow and develop our business as a global provider of choice to the telecoms sector and beyond."

Commenting on his appointment, Sir Julian said: "I am pleased to be joining the board at such a significant time for the company and the industry in general. Martin Dawes Systems is already a leader in this space and I am excited to be part of this company as it continues to make significant strides in a dynamic and exciting global market."

In addition to his role at Martin Dawes, Sir Julian Horn-Smith is a member of the board of Digicel Limited, the Caribbean and Pacific mobile telecoms operator, and a member of the advisory boards of The Company Agency and Altimo, the telecoms arm of Alfa Group, which has extensive investments, notably in Russia and Ukraine.

He is also a senior adviser to UBS Investment Bank, in London, and a non-executive director of the board of Lloyds TSB Group Plc.

About Martin Dawes Systems

Martin Dawes Systems is a leading software and services vendor specialising in billing and subscriber management solutions for the convergent communications market. Combining an informed and inspired approach with robust and proven systems, Martin Dawes Systems offers service providers attractive propositions that build customer loyalty and increase ARPU. Employing the latest technology and solutions, Martin Dawes Systems helps its customers drive revenues up while keeping operational costs to a minimum. Its company philosophy is one of partnership to promote enduring business relationships and mutual opportunities for growth. Headquartered in the UK, Martin Dawes Systems operates internationally from offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

" * Eric McDavid, Lauren Weiner and Zachary Jenson are accused of plotting to sabotage a U.S. Forest Service genetics tree lab and the Nimbus Dam. U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott has claimed that damage to the dam would have made “what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina look like a Sunday pancake breakfast.” Todd reports that Jeff McCracken, a spokesperson for the dam, says the water would just “trickle.” (p. 323)

This is an important point when we’re talking about labeling people as “terrorists” who endangered human life. It’s a good example of how the government has consistently twisted the truth in the hopes of chalking up a victory in the “War on Terrorism.”
* The FBI supplied Anna with a ’96 Chevy Lumina, and gas money, and food money, to drive Jenson and Weiner across the country and meet McDavid. There, the FBI paid for a cabin. And on top of that, the FBI supplied bomb-making recipes and materials.

All that was needed was a little encouragement. And the FBI supplied that, too.

At one point when tensions were very high, McDavid tried to calm Anna and Weiner down, saying “relax and chill out and maybe come back and chitchat later.” Weiner agreed, offering to make pasta. Anna flipped out.

Anna: Tomorrow, what are we planning on doing tomorrow? Are we still planning on doing anything tomorrow? Or should I just stop talking about plans?
McDavid: Hmmm.
Weiner: I would love it if you stopped talking.
Anna: I would love it if you guys followed a plan! How about that! (p. 324)

This is a critical exchange, because Jenson’s attorneys argued that his client was “entrapped.” In other words, the three were not likely going to commit these crimes, and Anna was trying to push them down that path, in the hopes of getting a big gold star from the FBI.
* “Under cross-examination by Reichel [Jenson’s attorney], Torres [FBI] admitted he hadn’t read all of the literature on informants; nor could he recall any specifics about the Attorney General’s guidelines regarding political protests.” (p. 324)

Anna infiltrated lawful gatherings, like a CrimethInc convergence and G8 protests. Todd says that they were secretive and require a special eco-terrorist invitation. In reality, they’re posted widely on the Internet. The danger of tactics like this, beyond ruining the lives of those entrapped and watering down public faith in the criminal justice system, is that basic First Amendment rights are a casualty as well.
* During Jenson’s trial, prosecutors went to great lengths to conceal Anna’s identity, even from the attorneys. Part of the justification was that Anna could be a target for retaliation, retaliation by environmentalists who have yet to harm anyone. If environmentalists are such a threat, why is Anna posing glamour-shot-style in the world’s largest fashion magazine?
* Perhaps the most disturbing piece in all of this is the final section of the article, where Todd interviewed one of the jurors, Diane Bennett.

“I said the FBI was an embarrassment,” she says, as other jurors scrambled to unload similar opinions. “I hope he gets a new trial. I’m not happy with the one he got.”

Bennett said that the foreman “teared up” when he delivered the guilty verdict. But the judge’s instructions were confusing, she said, and “people were tired… we wanted to go home.”

The piece could have been much worse. As someone posted anonymously on Indymedia in Portland: “Perhaps Andrea Todd deserves a little credit. She was, after all, attempting to write an article about someone who lies for a living.” "

And here's the bullshit mainstream press article:

-from sacbee.com
Eric McDavid, who went on the road to learn what was beyond his middle class, suburban Sacramento upbringing and returned a prisoner, was sentenced Thursday to 19 years and seven months in prison.
At the conclusion of a lengthy hearing before a crowded courtroom, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. found McDavid's plan to "disrupt government and commercial installations" overrides his lack of a criminal history and a reputation among family and friends as "a peaceful individual."

England denied defense lawyer Mark Reichel's request for bail pending appeal. Reichel had earlier told the judge, "Mr. McDavid and I plan to pursue his appeal vigorously."

In an extremely unusual move, deputy U.S. marshals allowed McDavid's traumatized and tearful mother, father and two sisters to hug him before he was taken away.

He was found guilty by a jury in September of conspiring with two others to burn or blow up a federal facility.

Two very talented lawyers - Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Steven Lapham and Reichel - went head to head on whether the terrorism sentence enhancement should apply.

Reichel argued forcefully the jury did not find a necessary element: his client conspired with Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner to target the government installations specified in the indictment.

He argued that even Jenson and Weiner, who testified against McDavid in return for leniency, said there was no conspiracy among the three of them to focus on a U.S. Forest Service genetics lab in Placerville and the Nimbus Dam and neighboring fish hatchery in Rancho Cordova.

Reichel told the judge that former jurors he has spoken to, two of whom submitted declarations on behalf of McDavid, support that notion.

The conspiracy against those facilities, if there was one, was between McDavid and Anna -- not her real name -- an undercover FBI operative and the fourth member of the group, with whom McDavid was infatuated.

But Lapham said it is "undeniable ... that McDavid was the one who first advocated using explosives when he recruited Weiner and Jensen in August 2005; that he did so because, as he told Weiner, he no longer believed that non-violent protest was working; that he told the others what they were doing was a crime; that his preferred target was the Institute of Forest Genetics, the so-called 'tree factory'; that he knew that people were living at that facility, and that he was indifferent to the possibility that someone might be accidentally killed as a result of that attack."

McDavid's parents and sisters addressed England, telling him that their son and brother is a caring, gentle person who would never deliberately harm someone.

Lapham, however, said he cannot reconcile that image with "what Eric McDavid became."

"I don't believe it was all talk," England declared, adding it ceased to be that when the foursome bought bomb-making materials and began trying to make an explosive device.

England acknowledged that the terrorism enhancement is "an onerous provision of the law," but said he is convinced Congress meant it to be applied in cases like McDavid's.

"It's a new world since Sept. 11, 2001," he observed.

With credit for the maximum amount of time off for good behavior and the two years and four months he has spent in jail since his arrest, the 30-year-old McDavid should be released in mid-2022.

He was studying philosophy at Sierra Community College when he decided to crisscross the country by hopping trains. His sister, Sarah, also a student at Sierra, asked why.

"He told me he figured traveling around and meeting people of all walks of life was the best way to gain knowledge about philosophy, much more real than any classroom could offer," she wrote in a letter to England. "... I began to finally understand when he came home and would share his stories. His animation and excitement of the people he met showed me he was gaining an understanding of human beings and the world in which we live that most people will never have."

But some of what he would learn was unimaginable as he embarked on this odyssey.

He learned merely talking of blowing things up and attempting, however unsuccessfully, to make a bomb is domestic terrorism, especially in post 9-11 America.

And, while no lawyer could have done a better job than Reichel, he learned the government has crack prosecutors like Lapham ready to go after him with all the tools at their disposal.

Finally, he learned that femmes fatales are not just characters in old Raymond Chandler detective novels.
Click here to find out more!

"....(h)e is no longer the young man he was before this case was brought ... physically, emotionally and mentally," is the way Reichel put it.

His already-formed anti-Iraq-invasion stance led to loose associations with self-styled anarchists and radical environmentalists who traveled the country demonstrating at events they saw as symbols of a society corrupted and dominated by capitalism and commercialism.

Anna came into his life and, for him, the association morphed into a romantic attachment. She was attractive, strong-willed, exciting and older. Although cagey about her age, she is probably somewhere in her 30s.

A Florida co-ed, she was recruited by the FBI in 2004 to penetrate the protest movement. For any such investigation to get around U.S. citizens' freedom of assembly, the agents need proof of criminal acts. That's where Anna came in.

She was invited to a CrimethInc Convergence in Des Moines in August. Through Jenson, who she had met earlier at a G8 economic summit near Atlanta, she made her first contact with McDavid.

Then 27, he grew up in Orangevale, played football at Casa Robles High School and worked as a carpenter while at Sierra.

Anna's first impression of the genial redhead was that he was not someone the FBI would be interested in.

He appeared to be just a face in the crowd, she testified at McDavid's trial. They were together later that month at the Republican National Convention in New York -- where Anna's aggressive behavior got her arrested -- and again in the summer of 2005 at Weiner's apartment in Philadelphia.

At the latter location, Anna testified, she noticed right away that McDavid seemed dramatically more radical. It was also then he first expressed his deep feelings for her. Just how much of his transformation was to impress her became a critical issue at the trial.

Reichel tried to build an entrapment defense around Anna, and again argued entrapment Thursday.

But Lapham scoffed at the theory, and England refused to adopt it. To do so, the judge said, "would turn law enforcement on its head in its ability to investigate these types of situations." Jenson and Weiner, both 22, were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges that carry a five-year prison cap. Jenson is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 7, Weiner's is set for Thursday.

 

1 Mayıs üzerine…

İstanbul ve çevresinden işçiler 1 Mayıs hazırlıkları yaparken, Türk devleti de vurucu timini 4 bin 500'ü Rize'den Muş'a kadar çeşitli illerden getirilen polislerle takviye etti.

Kuzey Kürdistan/Türkiye’nin en kalabalık şehri olan İstanbul’da 1 Mayıs biber ve göz yaşartıcı gazlar içinde boğuldu. Biber ve diğer gazların yarattığı acı ve çığlıklar İstanbulluların beynine sinmesine neden oldu. İşçilerin acıları ve çığlığı İstanbul’un vazgeçilmezi. İşçilerin ve emekçilerin acıları ve çığlıkları yalnız İstanbul’un değil tüm Türkiye’nin semalarında çınlamakta.

İstanbul Valisi ve Emniyet Müdürü “Taksim geçilmez” dedi, İstanbul 1 Mayıs’ta tarihi günlerinden birini yaşadı. Polis saldırısına sabah saat 06:30'da içeride yaklaşık 1500 kişinin bulunduğu DİSK binasına biber gazı atarak başladı, daha sonra sokak çatışmaları yaratarak onlarca insanı yaraladı, yüzlercesini tutukladı.

 

Gün boyunca TV'lerde canlı yayına bağlanan doktorlar gaz bombalarının insan sağlığı için büyük tehlike yarattığını açıklarken polisin toplam 1700 gaz bombası attığı medyalara yansıdı. Bu gaz kullanımı Cenevre Konvansiyonuna aykırı.

İstanbul aslında acının ve feryadın küçük bir parçasını oluşturuyor, İstanbul’dan yola çıkan “Gazi Mustafa Kemal” bütüne yaymıştır zulmü ve işkenceyi. İstanbul kuruldu kurulalı işçi sınıfından çok öldürülen oldu, bu kadar biber gazının gökyüzüne dağılırken feryadı ve acıyı yanında taşıdığı görülmemiştir. Bu feryat ki dünyanın en ücra köşesine kadar duyuldu.

1 Mayıs olayları hakkında  bazı köşe yazarlarının sütunlarında ise şöyle yer buldu:

Mehmet Ali Birand: Dün İstanbul yasaklar kenti gibiydi, ortalık savaş alanına döndü, devlet gücünü göstermiş oldu.

Çetin Altan: Dünkü İstanbul da, matbaanın ilk icadı ile Türkiye’ye ilk gelişi arasındaki mesafenin, pek de kapanmamış olduğunu kanıtlıyordu

Fikret Bila: İstanbul’dan dün yansıyan manzara normal değildi. Sanki olağanüstü hal, sıkıyönetim uygulaması var gibiydi İstanbul sokakları...Güvenlik güçleri işçi kovalıyordu. Tabii, suç güvenlik personelinin değil. Sorumluluk, bu kararı alanlarda. Onlara, “işgal gücüne” karşı meydan savaşı veriliyormuş gibi emir yağdıranlarda.
Hükümet 1 Mayıs’ta iyi bir sınav vermedi.

Hasan Cemal: Polisler, 1 Mayıs sabahı Taksim Meydanı’nın girişinde işçileri, emekçileri ellerinde çiçeklerle karşılayamazlar mıydı? İktidardan muhalefetten siyasetçiler hep birlikte emekçinin, işçinin dayanışma gününü kutlayamazlar mıydı?

 

Medya köşe yazarları böyle yazıyor. İstanbul’daki şimdiye kadar kanlı geçen 1 Mayıs, busene belleklere kazınan gaz bombası atan polisler, coplanan topluluklar. İstanbul Valisi Muammer Güler ve Emniyet Müdürü Celalettin Cerrah’ın şahsında Türk devletinin ne kadar demokratik maskesi takmaya çalışırsa çalışsın faşist olduğu bir kez daha kanıtlandı.

1 Mayıs’ın hesabı sorulacak ve o yüzlerine korkunç filmlerdekini andıran maskeleriyle gaz bombası atanların yüzlerindeki maske sökülüp atılacaktır! İşçiye emekçiye atılan kurşunlar gün gelecek geri dönecektir!

Kuzey Kürdistan/Türkiye’deki 1 Mayıs tarihine kronolojik olarak kısa bakalım;

1911 ilk 1 Mayıs Selanik (Osmanlı Sınırları içinde) kutlanır.

1912 İstanbul

1923 1 Mayıs İşçi Bayramı yasal olarak kutlanmaya başlandı.

1924 işçi Bayramını kitlesel olarak kutlanması yasaklandı.

1925 Takrir-i Sükun Yasası, İşçi bayramını kutlamayı yasakladı.

1935 1 Mayıs`a "Bahar ve Çiçek Bayramı" adı verildi ve ücretsiz tatil günü ilan edildi.

1976 DİSK ilk defa kitlesel olarak İstanbul’da kutladı.

1977 İstanbul’da gösteriye karanlık güçler ateş etti ve 36 İşçi öldü.

(Ahmet Gözükara, Aleksandro Kotsas, Ali Fuat Özkaş, Ali Sırdal, Atila Özbilen, Bayram Çıtak, Bayram Neyir, Beyhan Sürücü, Dilan Nigis, Ercüment Gürkut, Garabet Ayhan, Hacer İpeksaman, Hamdi Toka, Hasan Yıldırım, Hatice Altın, Hikmet Öztürkçü, Hüseyin Kırkın, Jale Yeşil Nil, Kadir Balcı, Kadriye Duman, Kahraman Alsancak, Kenan Çatak, Leyla Altıparmak, Mehmet Ali Gençoğlu, Meral Özkol, Mustafa Elmas, Mustafa Ertan, Mürtecim Oltulu, Nazan Güladi, Nazmi Arı, Niyazi Darı, Ömer Harhan, Ramazan Sarı, Rasim Elmas, Sibel Açıkalın, Ziya Baki )

1979 Sıkıyönetim Komutanlığı İstanbul`da miting yapılmasına izin vermedi. Korsan kutlandı.

1981 1 Mayıs tatil olmaktan çıkarıldı.

1989`da trafik polisinin açtığı ateş sonucu işçi Mehmet Akif Dalcı yaşamını yitirdi.

1996 Kadıköy’de kutlandı. Polisin açtığı ateş sonucu 3 işçi (Dursun Adabaş, Hasan Albayrak ve Yalçın Levent ) öldürüldü.

2007 Taksim’de kutlanmak istendi ve İbrahim Sevindik hayatını kaybetti.

2008 1 Mayıs'ın "Emek ve Dayanışma Günü" olarak kutlanması kabul edildi. Hükümet Taksim’de olamayacak dedi ve Taksim alanına çıkan tüm yolları kapattı. Taksim insansızlaştırıldı. (liste İsmail Cem Özkan’ın İnternet sayfasından alındı)

 

 

- İşçi sınıfına ve emekçilere çektirdiğiniz acıların, eziyetlerin hesabı devrimle sorulacaktır!

KomEy-ml Avusturya

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Ferrovial Agroman, a Spanish company, are one of the companies, in conjunction with SIAC, who are contracted to build the controversial M3 motorway. This begs to further question the repeated cooperation between the Gardaí and private security for SIAC/ Ferrovial Agroman, on the back of the demolition of the Direct Action Protest Camp at Rath Lugh on 17th Apr2008.

The OPW Archaeologist onsite stated, and has been recorded that she would “personally put out the fire”. Both the OPW onsite and the Gardaí were initially refusing to acknowledge the sacredness of the fire and in doing so are not upholding an individual’s right to religious worship/practice. The OPW have also admitted on camera that this was not an official eviction, and that they didn’t even have the official documentation or method statement to carry out the activity.

When negotiations were finally possible, the Gardaí were not able to quote specifically any law that would allow them to extinguish this sacred fire. Talks since have produce a guarantee from Ms Fionnula Parnell, Archaeologist from the National Monuments Department OPW, in the presence of a Gardai, that no attempt to remove the fire, or the TiPi housing it until the outcome of an agreed meeting on 19th May 2007. There are approx 30 vigil keepers surrounding the TiPi housing the fire adamant that they have the right to continue holding the Vigil and practice their individual and collective beliefs. Several of these people were assaulted by the privately hired security company in the presence of Gardai, and will be filing charges. Otherwise, there is a great atmosphere, music + drums, children’s laughter in the air. Energy is positive and spirits are high in the Summer sun. This is why the Vigil has attracted visitors from the 4 corners of the world in the 23months of it’s existence.

Ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has in the past forewarned of dangerous trends in modern society “So much of what is happening within our society and in the wider world is bound up with questions of religion, religious identity and religious belief," he said, "that governments which refuse or fail to engage with religious communities and religious identities risk failing in their fundamental duties to their citizens." The Irish Constitution (Article 8) recognises that citizens have a right to “Freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion are, subject to public order and morality, guaranteed to every citizen, and no law may be made either directly or indirectly to endow any religion or prohibit or restrict the free exercise thereof or give any preference, or impose any disability on account of religious belief or religious status”. The European Constitution (Part II - The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union) Article II-70 recognises ”Freedom of thought, conscience and religion: 1) Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance”.

We, the Vigil Keepers, call on Minister John Gormley, as Minister of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government responsible for State Managed Visitor Services, to officially acknowledge the sacred Vigil Fire on the Hill of Tara.

For verification call Debbie Reilly on 086 175 8557

Issued on behalf of the Tara Solidarity Vigil
Joanne Corbett 086 6030389 www.savetara.com

Every so often while my husband's working, he'll inadvertently bang his cell phone, and the phone dials me.  This happened to a mother whose son was engaged in a firefight in Afghanistan.  He hit a wall and bumped the redial button on his cell.  The firefight was recorded on his mother's answering machine.  The message went dead after her son shouted, "Incoming, incoming, RPG!"

The BBC covered the story.

Nathan on Yanni.com

Yanni Tribute 2007 - Nathan Pacheco

Um dos melhores sucessos de Yanni, agora em versão com o Nathan Pacheco.

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Yanni's Future Album with Brazillian Nathan Pacheco

This is an Audio File. I heard Nathan Pacheco in Florida, he is amazing Singer! and when I learned that he is working now with Yanni, preparing for a new album, I became sure that it will be the greatest Work ever made.
Listen to Nathan in Rice Wake Studio

Yanni Vozes 2008 [Video Tribute Completo - Nathan Pacheco]

Vídeo editado com algumas das músicas mais famosas de Yanni como o Until Last Moment, Adagio in C Minor e Tribute. O video segue com entrevistas dos novos vocalistas da banda.
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Por favor, comentem o video, ok?! =D
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Abçs!

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Yanni 2007 - 3 Minute EPK

Yanni has joined forces with the Oscar/Grammy winning producer, Ric Wake, to create new music and discover extraordinary vocal artists! Yanni and Ric's goal is to collaborate with prodigy singer/songwriters and put them in the most creative environment possible to reach their full potential. The two have settled into "Camp Yanni" in South Florida, immersing themselves in the studio producing new music...over 80 new compositions to date!

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Yanni - Tribute with Nathan Pacheco

Tribute 2007 - Yanni and Nathan.
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This music talk about all the teaches that Yanni learned when he was a kid, by his father... simplicity, truth, criativity, love. In this video, I'm trying to show all those things, with happy moments of Yanni and the musicians.
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Thanks for watch! :)
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You can find this song here:
http://www.yanni.com, but you must be in the official fan club.

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Meet Yanni Voices - (extended, Part 1 of 2 )

In this video Yanni introduces you to "Voices" Chloe and Ender Thomas and Chloe. He also reveals more music and info from two artists you've already met, Leslie Mills and Nathan Pacheco.

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Meet Yanni Voices - (extended, Part 2 of 2)

In Part 2, Yanni gives us more insight into his relationships with Leslie and Nathan, as well as Ender Thomas and Chloe.

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Yanni 2007 - Global Yanni Video

Yanni's music defies borders and boundaries. His music speaks to people of all races and nations. Half a billion people worldwide have experienced his performances in places where no one else has gone.
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Yanni's dream of reaching a global audience continues, powered by the desire to touch people and bring them together with the universal emotions expressed in his music.
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The next level of evolution has begun. Get ready for new music and a World Tour in 2008.

Manifestation en 2006 après le meurtre d’Alejandro Uribe, dirigeant d’un syndicat de mineurs.

© DR

30 avril 2008

Poster inspirato ai lavori visti minimalexperimental

Font: frutiger LT Std 45

Odată cu aderarea la Uniunea Europeană, ziua de 9 Mai a devenit deja o tradiţie pentru noi. În parcul Herăstrău din Capitală au fost ridicate douăsprezece statui din bronz, reprezentându-i pe cei care au pus bazele comunităţii europene. Busturile celor douăsprezece personalităţi pot fi admirate şi vizitate pe Insula Trandafirilor din parcul Herăstrău. Steagul, cu cele 12 stele, aşezate în cerc, pe un fond albastru, înseamnă unitatea şi identitatea popoarelor Europei. Cercul reprezintă solidaritatea şi armonia, iar stelele, în număr de 12, reprezintă perfecţiunea (şi nu numărul statelor membre UE cum s-ar putea crede).

Consiliul Europei a fost cel care a decis, în 1972, ca “Oda bucuriei” (ultima parte a Simfoniei a IX-a de Beethoven) să devină imnul său, iar în 1985, Statele Membre UE l-au adoptat, şi ele, ca imn oficial al Uniunii Europene. Deviza UE este "Unită în diversitate". Semnificaţia devizei este ca, prin Uniunea Europeană, europenii îşi unesc eforturile pentru a lucra împreună pentru menţinerea păcii şi pentru prosperitate. Amos News

A trip to the System Preferences did not help much. The International section, under "Input Menu" has a US-Extended layout, however that does not do the deed. A Google search brought up a privately-built US-international layout for MacOSX, although I couldn't believe that it was not included in the default OS, with all the internationalization features that are included already.

I came across a forum from 2001 where people said that it was not necessary to have a US-international layout, that the accents were accessible from the US-English layout with the Alt/Option key. I tried, and indeed pressing Alt-e printed what looked like an underlined acute accent ´ under the cursor. Pressing e again (without Alt this time) printed an é, and the cursor moved right one place. It took some time but the other accent modifiers are quite intuitively placed:

• acute (é): Alt-e + vowel
• grave (è): Alt-` (to the left of the 1 key) + vowel
• circumflex (î): Alt-i + vowel
• diaeresis (ü): Alt-u + vowel
• tilde (ñ): Alt-n + n

Impressive. Everything is accessible from one single keyboard layout, without having to switch it (and forgetting which layout one is working on) and in a very intuitive way. Other interesting language features are:

• Alt-?: ¿
• Alt-!: ¡
• Alt-c: ç
• Alt-s: ß

Even more impressive are the symbols that are accessible with Alt+other keys, which are useful for science:

• Alt-Shift-A: Å
• Alt-p: π
• Alt-m: µ
• Alt-d: ∂
• Alt-f: ƒ
• Alt-j: ∆
• Alt-z: Ω
• Alt-k: ˚
• Alt-5: ∞
• Alt-Shift-9: · (middle dot)
• Alt-=: ≠
• Alt-x: ≈
• Alt-,: ≤
• Alt-.: ≥
• Alt-Shift-=: ±
• Alt-/: ÷
• Alt-8: •

From Yahoo!:

Children cry while staying at a temporary shelter with displaced families in the cyclone-hit area of Dedaye township near Yangon. The international community pleaded with Myanmar's military rulers to let foreign aid workers and desperately needed relief supplies into the cyclone-crushed country

This one puts things in perspective. While we're obsessed with Barack and Hillary, the typhoon in Burma (Myanmar, if you prefer) has killed hundreds of thousands and there is very little we can do to help if the Burmese government won't allow much international aid.

If anything good can possibly happen from this situation, maybe it can help bring down that military junta in Burma that seems to care much more about retaining power than helping its people.

I don't deny Bush's attack on a Democratic-controlled Congress. Congress have yet to produce anything of substance since taking over in 2006.  That tax cut (thanks Federal gov't!) was a bipartisan effort, and a win for the Republicans, not for Pelosi. She can't be seen as a candidate encouraging more and more tax cuts, but she can be seen as a hero for putting money back into the pockets of citizens with a faltering economy.*

But man, as you read this article further down, you just start cringing, and start to think that Bush has no shame for his already tarnished legacy. "Eh, the heck with it..."

I'm referring to this:

The president also pushed again for priority legislation that has been stalled on Capitol Hill for weeks — a potential free-trade deal with Colombia, and a government eavesdropping bill designed to target communications of suspected terrorists.

Bush also called on Congress to approve a $108 billion war-spending bill for Iraq and
Afghanistan "without any strings."

Trading with Colombia, gov't eavesdropping and enormous spending on the war...
Yeah, that's what you do. You infuriate the public and have them grow more distant from the political process. 

*And for y'all that want to blame this economic downturn on the current administration is fair, but remember to pass the blame to everyone else starting with then-President Bill Clinton, 2004 Republican-led Congress and now the current Congress.

plants are living, true, and if we abide by the idea that "all living things have rights" then plants should have rights. but, do plants really have FEELINGS? do they understand when they are being wronged? do they feel pain the way that animals do?... i don't think so.

i'm kind of not surprised that it's switzerland debating plant rights, haha.

Turns out he's pretty much all Swedish, but his father's family immigrated to Sweden from Scotland in the 1730's(!) now that's old school.

Plus, him and his friends invented the UberTap while in college to speed up beer pouring at keg parties, how cool is that.

UberTap is a system that uses a foot pump to extract the liquid gold, and three spouts to fill the glasses.

Imagine that. Three glasses being filled simultaneously.

To borrow phrase sudsy connoisseurs know -- brilliant.

"It took too long to get beer in college. It's about five times as fast to fill up," Murray said. "Since I've been in the NHL, I haven't been involved as much, my partner is running it. When I was in the minors, there was more time."

So much for the thought Murray was just another hulking defenceman.

Actually, that tidbit is just the tip of the iceberg with him.

He's actually Swedish -- his father's family came from Scotland in the 1730s, so that explains the Anglicized names. His brothers are named Ted, Charles and his sister is Roseanna.

"All my relatives and cousins have Swedish names, but my parents wanted their kids to have English names, which is different when you live back in Sweden," Murray said.

"But when you live over here, nobody believes you're Swedish."

Murray left home to play junior and high school hockey in New York state, living with relatives on Long Island, because he figured it would be a fun experience for one year.

Instead of returning home, he received a scholarship at Cornell, and became a two-time first-team all-American and team captain. He's also rung the bell at the New York Mercantile Exchange in the summer of 2006.

FSU secretary Leon Carter said the bank’s move would hollow out the Australian finance industry, leaving a nation of bank shopfronts. “Swiping out more than 3000 of these jobs will mean that only the façade of an Australian bank would be left behind.”

Carter said that Westpac was carving up its business and its local employees were being treated as “offcuts”.

 http://www.lvrj.com/business/17590854.html

New York -- A visit with Wendy Oxenhorn, the Executive Director of Jazz Foundation of America just prior to "A Great Night In Harlem" 7th Annual gala fund raising concert event in New York's Apollo Theatre to take place May 29, 2008. Jazz Foundation of America are the angels who have helped so many jazz musicians with much needed medical and housing assistance. "Together, we are saving Jazz and Blues...one musician at a time." Jon Hammond of HammondCast Show on KYOURADIO interviewing Wendy Oxenhorn in their New York offices, return visit 2008. http://www.jazzfoundation.org © http://www.HammondCast.com

Richard D. Parsons

Chairman

Jarrett Lilien

President

Wendy Atlas Oxenhorn

Executive Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Glen Barros

Margaret Bridge

Bob Cranshaw

Hon. David Dinkins

William Douglass

Steven Edwards

Dr. Frank Forte

Ben Giordano

Danny Glover

Nat Hentoff

Carl Horton

Marc Henry Johnson

Sandy Jordan

Peter Low

Phyllis Lubarsky

L. Londell McMillan

Geoffrey D. Menin

Gil Noble

Hank O’Neal

Robert Opatrny, Esq., Secretary

Jimmy Owens, Vice President

Michael Pietrowicz, Treasurer

Lee Richards

Ann Ruckert

Dr. Billy Taylor

Dr. Ron Tikofsky

Dr. Agnes Varis

Marlisa Vinciquerra

David Walden

William Wurtzel

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Robbin Ahrold

Jill Algrin

Arthur H. Barnes

Joslyn Barnes

Cy Blank*

Cephas Bowles

Thurston Briscoe

Ron Carter

Chevy Chase

Elvis Costello

Jim Eigo

Jon & Laurelyn Faddis

Lois Gilbert

Phoebe Jacobs*

Quincy Jones

Don Lucoff

Bruce Lundvall

Howard Mandel

Stella Mars

Wynton Marsalis

Marian McPartland

Jamil Nasser

Richard D. Parsons

Joe Piscopo

Bob Porter

Fran Richard

Mrs. Frederick P. Rose

Marc Roth

Phil Schaap

Richard Schebairo

Stephen Seigel

Lew Tabackin

Agnes Varis

George Wein

Sharon Wise

Il fallait s'y attendre; ADM vient d'investir plus d'un milliard de dollars, ces dernières années, pour rénover Montréal-Trudeau, y compris la construction d'une nouvelle jetée internationale.  À partir du moment où le gouvernement fédéral a consenti à ADM le maintien des activités à Trudeau, malgré que cet aéroport soit maintenant enclavé, c'était la fin des haricots pour Mirabel.  On a eu beau y implanter une zone franche, ça n'a rien changé.  Depuis que cette décision a été rendue, rien n'a pu faire reculer ADM.  Même si l'on avait construit l'A-13, plus un TGV entre l'aéroport des basses-Laurentides et le centre-ville de Montréal, on savait que l'administration des aéroports de la région métropolitaine se concentrerait sur celui de Dorval.

Au moins, le fait de donner le nom de l'ancien premier ministre libéral à l'aéroport de Dorval a eu du bon; cela nous donne une raison de plus de "sacrer après Trudeau".

As youth, we traditionally play a large role in raising awareness in local communities and in raising money for various campaigns. Through the Measles Initiative, we have raised more than $500,000 through creative fundraisers around the country. We have spearheaded successful fundraisers for other international disasters, in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.

Whether or not you have done fundraising specific to this Myanmar cyclone, thank you, from all of us that work at the youth program, for your committment to help people you have never met in countries and cultures you may never visit. It is precisely your work that embodies the fundamental principles of the international movement: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

Keep up your amazing work!

The road through Yellowstone is now open to cars. In years past, during this season, on a drive through the park you would be hard pressed not to see several hundred buffalo and many newborn calves. This season, people who have taken this drive have felt as if they were in a ghost town. As barb, BFC's office coordinator, reports: "Darrell and i spent many hours [last Friday] in Yellowstone driving from the west gate to Old Faithful, counting buffalo. The news is not good. In that 30 mile stretch we saw fewer than 200 buffalo total! In 14 years of living in Montana and spending lots of time at this time of the year in the park, I've never seen less than several hundred buffs in the meadows at Mary Mountain trail head; [Friday] we counted 41 with only 4 calves ... and that was the largest herd we saw all day."

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